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Aurelians
Aurelians are a race of humanoids who descended from Homo Sapiens, but are now a distinct species. They are known to be beautiful, intelligent, and extremely dangerous. History Aurelia colony was conquered by an alien race known as the Aenagh. The Aenagh ruled from orbiting spacecraft and enslaved the human population. The Aenagh obliterated the legacy Aurelian culture, eliminating art, faith, social customs, traditions and replacing them with a conformity of thought in order to focus the Aurelians on their roles as servants to the Aenagh. Through a program of eugenics (killing the weak and defective) and genetic engineering, they transformed the humans of that world into superior physical and intellectual specimens. The Aurelians eventually overthrew the Aenagh. They set out from their system to make contact with other human colonies and set them free, but they found no other worlds under Aenagh domination. They were disappointed that other human worlds were inhabited by humans who were genetically inferior and still subject to irrational religious superstitions. They set about to enlighten those worlds, but met with resistance. As a result, they changed their objectives from enlightenment to conquest. First Aurelian War Initial contact with ships from the Pathfinder project resulted in hostilities between the Aurelian Order and the nascent New Commonwealth and Free Worlds Alliance. The destruction of a Megasphere in the Crux Sector by the Pathfinder Ship Lexington Keeler and another just beyond the Lynx Sector led the Aurelians to sue for peace. Under the Treaty of Chapterhouse, the Aurelians agreed to stop conquering and destroying human colonies in exchange for a cease-fire. The Aurelians recalled all of their Megaspheres to the Aurelius Prime system. Second Aurelian War The Aurelians constructed a Starlock in the Aurelius Prime System and used it to launch attacks against human colonies, beginning with surprise attacks on Sapphire and Republic, followed soon by attacks on Bountiful Prime, Independence, Denali and other advanced colonies. Forty solar years of war followed, with Aurelians staging successful assaults on outlying, less advanced, and vulnerable human colonies; stripping them of resources that they carried back to the home system. When the location of the Aurelian Home System was discovered, a Task Force consisting of Free Alliance, New Commonwealth, and Lynx vessels assembled to launch a final assault. Rather than allow themselves to be defeated, the Aurelians detonated a nova bomb, turning their system primary into a supernova. The resulting explosion destroyed all the spheres in their system. Physiology Aurelians have an essentially humanoid physiology, but are larger than the human norm, averaging above two meters in height. They also vary from human physiology in having two hearts. Aurelians are long-lived, life spans of 400-500 years are typical.In order to maintain youth and longevity, the Aurelians require injections of hormones drawn from the pineal glands of pre-adolescent human children. Culture Aurelians value power, pleasure, gratification, and long life above all else. The Aurelians have forsworn terrestrial existence and instead inhabit great “Megaspheres” of 1,000 km in diameter. Powered by white holes at their core (which draw power from other dimensions) the Megaspheres are capable of traveling at near light-speed. Aurelian Society is divided into castes. The Arcana make up the leadership castes, while the rest of society is divided into Wands, Cups, Pentacles, and Swords. The Arcana The Aurelians are led by a group of what they call Transcendent Beings of Great Power who embody different aspects and perspectives that are considered divine to the Aurelians. Wands Wands are usually humans who have had their minds transplanted in Aurelian bodies and perform the highest level tasks. Pentacles Pentacles are Humans used to perform technical tasks. Cups Cups are the simple servant class that perform most menial labors for their Aurelian Masters. Swords Swords are the warfighters of the Aurelian Order. They are massive creatures with armor-like skin and long sharp metallic blades attached to their arms. Techniques of Conquest Aurelians originally tried to bring adjacent human colonies to their way of life through persuasion. When their attempts to alter other human cultures were rejected violently, they were forced to evolve in their tactics. When Aurelians set out to conquer human colonies, they followed a four stage process. Stage 1 – Infiltration Aurelian agents (usually Wands) infiltrate a planet’s society in order to weaken and destabilize its political, social, and military structures; thus facilitating subsequent military conquest. Stage 2 – Initiation When the time is right, the Aurelians initiate a global crisis or catastrophe (for example, a massive asteroid bombardment; a plague; or some other grave crisis). The Aurelians arrive and present themselves to the populace as saviors. They rapidly assume control of the planet under the pretext of providing recovery assistance. Stage 3 – Occupation The Aurelians supply their populations with ample food, narcotics, and aphrodisiacs. As the Occupation continues, the Aurelians begin stripping the planet of resources, which are used to construct a new Megasphere. The human population is evaluated for its suitability to join the Aurelians when the new Megasphere is complete. Those who are judged physically and intellectually fit are selected for the Cups, Swords, and Pentacles castes. Those who judged genetically inferior are sterilized. Stage 4 – Emancipation The Aurelians depart the system with their new Megasphere and their new fleet and set off for the next human system to conquer; leaving behind a world that has been stripped of resources and left with an aging and sterile human population.